Nation: Air Force sex probe grows to 31 victims

WASHINGTON - At least 31 female trainees have been identified as victims in a widening sex scandal targeting a dozen instructors at Lackland Air Force Base in Texas, the Air Force revealed Thursday, providing new details in an investigation that has rocked the service's training command.

Six of the 12 instructors under investigation for misconduct face charges ranging from rape to adultery. A senior Air Force commander said nine of those instructors were in the same squadron. All 31 of the alleged victims are still in the Air Force, officials said.

Lackland is where every American airman reports for basic training - about 35,000 a year. About one in five are female, pushed through eight weeks of basic training by a flight of instructors that are about 90 percent male.

NEW JERSEY

No stowaways found in search

NEWARK - A cargo ship that U.S. authorities thought might be carrying stowaways was expected to leave Port Newark on Friday after a search of more than 160 sealed containers turned up no one.

The Department of Homeland Security said Thursday that the search, triggered by a reported knocking sound, had ended with no stowaways found. The agency refused to answer questions about what may have caused the false alarm.

NORTH CAROLINA

1 dead in shooting at Fort Bragg

FORT BRAGG - One soldier was fatally wounded and two others injured at Fort Bragg military base Thursday.

During a unit safety briefing, a soldier shot to death another member of the unit before turning the gun on himself, according to a news release posted on the Fort Bragg official website. A third soldier nearby was mildly wounded.

The injured shooter is in custody, the release stated.

The names of the soldiers - all members of the 525th Battlefield Surveillance Brigade - have not been released.

OREGON

Hotline created for Japan debris

SALEM - Find a boxcar-size dock on the beach, or a soccer ball with Japanese symbols? The state of Oregon wants to hear from you. Just dial 211.

Democratic Gov. John Kitzhaber announced the hotline at a news conference Thursday. Beginning Friday, the hotline will be staffed during business hours and will take recorded messages at other times.

"I just want to make sure that Oregonians understand that we are on top of this," Kitzhaber said.

The hotline will allow the public to help keep Oregon's beaches clean and return any missing Japanese property to its rightful owners, the governor said.